Port Ellen 30 Years Old 1979 Old & Rare The Platinum Selection (Douglas Laing)

This Port Ellen was from the independent bottler Douglas Laing matured to 30 year old, from 1979 and bottled at 53.3%. Only 270 bottles were released. Port Ellen stood on the windswept south of Islay from its founding in 1825 until it was shut by DCL in 1983. The stills ran once more from 2024, but this whisky predates the revival.

Heavily peated malt, kilned over Islay peat, set the smoky tone and distilled in copper pot stills with water from the lochs, to give a maritime, citrus edged smoke quite its own. Maturation came in ex-Bourbon American oak, gentle wood beneath the peat. Long ageing leaves a mellow smoke, a lanolin wax and a maritime depth. Years by the Atlantic give the malt its briny, oily weight. Three Islay distilleries proved one too many, and this was the one to close. Its smoke leans citric and mineral rather than tarry and medicinal.

Bottled at a cask strength 53.3%, it is intense. A briny peat smoke runs over lemon peel and sea brine, with gentle oak vanilla beneath the smoke. The mouthfeel is oily, the smoke carried on a waxy body. Deep and elegant, the smoke lingers long. This is prized stock from a distillery reborn only in 2024.